BLOGS

Getting To Know The Ghostbusters’ New Secretary, Chris Hemsworth

3/9/2016 3:18:39 PM by
Corrina
There were a lot of complaints about the first Ghostbusters trailer when it was released last week (They didn’t keep enough stuff from the ‘80s! They kept too much stuff from the ‘80s! I’m a grown man who’s scared of women!), but only one grievance was valid: not enough screen time devoted to the squad’s hardworking secretary (aka Chris Hemsworth).

Office assistants are the glue that keep businesses together, but in the first trailer Hemsworth’s character’s lived experience is completely ignored. You can’t practice particle physics if you’re worried about who’s making sure that Ecto-1 goes in for it’s quarterly maintenance checks. And after a long day of busting ghosts, who is it that’s checking to see if the proton packs are recharged for the next run-in with the paranormal?

The trailer unforgivably trivializes the role Hemsworth plays as part of the Ghostbusting team. Instead, the viewer is asked to focus almost entirely on the more highly valued scientific work done by the women who are his superiors. The only thing we see his character do in the original clip is kick open a door (a stereotypically “male” act meant to draw attention to his physicality, as opposed to his intelligence or sensitivity).

It’s important that men see themselves reflected on screen in roles that show that they too are capable of managing critical tasks. Hemsworth’s character is more than just a pretty face attached to a totally bangin’ bod and (thankfully) this new international trailer remedies that initial impression. Check it out below.